Suda 51 Announces Upcoming Action-Horror ‘Lollipop Chainsaw’

Published 4 years ago
by
William Case
, Updated February 10th, 2012 at 8:48 pm,

Coming off the gun-toting, demon chasing adventure that was Shadows of the Damned, Grasshopper Manufacture’s Goichi Suda is already set to go back into the fray, packing not only a title set with chainsaws and cheerleaders, but with a unnamed publisher ready to distribute after the finishing touches are in place.

Titled Lollipop Chainsaw, the game will feature cheerleader Juliet Starling, who’s on her way to her West Coast high school to meet with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, things don’t work out as planned, as the school is filled to the brim with hungry zombies. Quick-witted players can figure out where the “chainsaw” portion of the game’s title comes in at this point, as Suda explains the basis behind the game:

“Actually I’ve wanted to do a crazy horror-action game like this set in a school for a while now, something where the classrooms, corridors, gymnasium and so on are suddenly transformed into something completely different. I was also working on a game concept centered around using a chainsaw as a weapon, and once the idea for the Juliet character began to form, it was just a perfect fit.”

Like Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw will feature a score by the amazing Akira Yamaoka. Unlike Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw won’t be filled with blood and gore, yet instead with — and this is a new one for the zombie genre — “bursts of pink light.”

“When it comes to gore, we can certainly go that way if we want, but we wanted to give the game more of a ‘pop’ feel.”

Plus, the game will feature elements outside of just simple chainsaw-wielding mechanics. Players will have to balance several of Juliet’s acrobatic abilities to combat the many different enemies within the school, while trying to “incorporate some dance moves” into the gameplay. Suda won’t go into detail as to what that may involve exactly, but it sounds like it should be entertaining to say the least.

With cinematic titles like Dead Island leading the zombie charge, and a world dedicated to “shoot first, shoot again” in Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Lollipop Chainsaw may find its niche and relish in it, and we’ll be waiting in anticipation to see what it looks like.

Lollipop Chainsaw is currently in development for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.